Soft-delete functionality: security & flexibility

Two days ago you had a chance to read a bit on how the Files module changed to make things easier. If you’ve missed that part, check it here. We promised to follow up with more on soft-delete functionality. If you’ve been waiting to see what is it all about, this post will clarify this feature. Ready to get started? Go!

Soft-delete – what’s that?

Everyone knows and occasionally uses Recycle Bin on a Windows or Mac machine. We all take it for granted to have possibility to easily recover a file, even if it has been deleted on purpose. In principle, this is what we’ve just implemented. Soft-delete functionality brings even more security and flexibility to your workspace. Obviously, your files are safe on AdminProject anyway, but we wanted to give you more power over your daily work. The main idea behind this feature is that before a file (or a folder) actually gets deleted it will be held in the limbo for deleted files for 30 days. Put simply, if you delete any file on AdminProject, you’ll be able to restore it for another month. After that, the file will be removed permanently.

Security vs flexibility

As you remember, normal project members (unlike the Owner and Administrators), were restricted to only several things they were able to do with files. AdminProject took care of your project files by limiting those members actions exclusively to their resources.

For example, one could move, rename or delete the file that he or she uploaded. On the one hand it was good to leave full management rights to the Owner and Administrators. On the other, however, the Files module was lacking flexibility because of that. While you could resolve this issue by promoting all your project team members to Administrators, that wasn’t an optimal solution. That’s the main reason for introducing soft-delete functionality. By introducing this feature, we are giving all users more flexibility.

Any volunteers to do some tiding-up works in the Files module? Feel free! 🙂 From now on, you don’t have to worry if other project members delete an important file. Deleted resources will be kept safe for one month before they’re removed permanently. The main benefit for you is that you can ask all project team members to take care of their own “area” of files, regardless who uploaded them. So, you can ask your accountant to move/rename/organise financial documents in whatever way. AdminProject won’t complain that this file was uploaded by someone else 😉

Showtime!

Let’s see what you can do with soft-delete functionality! When browsing your files, you can delete a file by clicking on the Delete action on the toolbar:

You will be asked to confirm your action:

After that, your folder view won’t (normally) show the deleted file. However, you can ask (or force) AdminProject to show deleted elements as well. The magic Show deleted elements button is reserved for project Owner and Administrators:

Just click on Show deleted elements, and AdminProject will present you with the following view:

If you hover your mouse over the deleted element, you’ll be able to restore it in no time!

There’s also nothing easier in the world than deleting a folder full of files! 🙂 You can use the Delete option from a folder’s toolbar, and AdminProject will ask for your confirmation:

That’s right! Have no fear! Even if you delete the folder with its content, you can still browse it having Show deleted elements option active:

Gosh! You didn’t want to delete O1-A1 – Needs analysis folder?! No problem! As you did with the file, simply hover your mouse over the deleted folder and restore it! All elements will be restored immediately!

Further improvements (yup, we’re not done!)

We didn’t tell you everything about the improved Files module, but we also promised not to write books (seen our Hot new features post?). To add to the above, you can also delete many files/folders at the same time, still taking advantage of the soft-delete mechanism. But there’s more! Apart from deleting, you can move and download many files and folders (or both) at once. This nice and useful multiple-selection feature will be described in the following post. Make sure to visit us back in a few days to learn more! See you in the next post, and may the soft-delete force be with you!